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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743255">West of Eden</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornerandchair/pseuds/cornerandchair'>cornerandchair</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Greater Boston (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 11:08:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>565</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743255</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cornerandchair/pseuds/cornerandchair</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A family is left to reflect.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Autumn West &amp; Ada West, Autumn West/Oliver West, Oliver West &amp; Ada West, Phil West &amp; Oliver West</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>West of Eden</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic contains mentions of:<br/>Mourning a loved one,<br/>Brief mentions of divorce,<br/>Tax Evasion,<br/>Childhood letters and art,<br/>Leaky pipes.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Autumn West finds no comfort in the sound of the shredder. One after another after another after another she feeds the divorce papers through the loud, mechanical blades.</p>
<p>The divorce papers…<br/>That I advised her to get.<br/>Autumn, I’m sorry.</p>
<p>She thought... She had thought that perhaps instead of Oliver’s cold pristine signature being the last she saw him, the papers would knock some sense into him. Have him come home. Instead she got the signed papers, and not even a month later, a death certificate. </p>
<p>Some small part of her refused to believe that Oliver was actually dead. That he’d come marching through the door, scoop Ada into his arms, and claim it had all been a tax evasion scheme.</p>
<p>Tax… evasion? Autumn, really?</p>
<p>But, she remembered the man who delivered them to her. His unwavering smile and calm demeanor…</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry for your loss, but you will find that Mister West left you quite a lot. And should you need anything else at any time, do not hesitate to contact us at this number.” The man pulled a glossy business card from a jacket pocket, “our offices are open twenty-four seven so I do mean any time.”</p>
<p>Autumn took the card.</p>
<p>“And again, sorry for your loss, Mrs. W— ah, <i>Miss</i> Mancer.”</p>
<p>“<i>Mrs. West.</i>” And she slammed the door in his face.</p>
<p>Autumn didn’t know what to say to Ada. A divorce was easy enough. They were already separated before. But this.</p>
<p>She sticks the business card into the shredder.</p>
<p>How could she tell Ada he would never see his father again?</p>
<p>--------------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Ada West, young boy that he is, has no idea what’s happening. He’s actually writing a letter to Oliver.</p>
<p>It’s in several different crayon colors, the words tumble off the sides of the page into a mess of scribbles. Little drawings fill the margins meshing together with the words. It’s utter chaos.</p>
<p>But to him, it makes sense. He can understand the letter perfectly, and he knows, if he could just show it to his father he’d understand. It’s such a simple thing. Oliver just didn’t understand how much they loved him. He just needed to know that they didn’t need him to be some big important man.</p>
<p>They just needed him there.</p>
<p>And if he could get this letter through the pipes his mother used to contact him… It would find him when he needed it most.</p>
<p>------------------------------------------------------------</p>
<p>Phil is thinking about that water pipe.</p>
<p>His old companion in isolation.</p>
<p>The thing that drove him to continue his… ‘game’.</p>
<p>Now he looks at the deed to Wonderland, left to him by his uncle.</p>
<p>Legion’s instructions were clear. Turn the theme park over to them, over to Ethan. Doom everyone taking refuge there after Emily kicked them all out of Red Line. Their fates-- or at least the fate of their current residence-- were in his hands. In this deed.</p>
<p>He can’t decide if he can still hear the water pipe.</p>
<p>That constant drip drip <i>drip <b>drip</b></i></p>
<p>Counting the seconds.</p>
<p>Counting the minutes until he would be forced to make a decision, either by his Uncle ‘Olly’ or by Legion. He needs to decide where he draws the line.</p>
<p>Either be swept up by the Counsel of Villains and Legion, drowning under the weight of what they want…</p>
<p>Or to break open the waterways and ride a metaphorical wave to freedom...</p>
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